Sunday, July 12, 2015

This past week I experienced a first. One of my monthly
nutrition articles in our local paper, the Ozaukee News Graphic, was attacked
in a letter to the editor. The headline reads, “Rosen column based on faulty
science.” Once I read the letter I of course had to see who this guy was, and
sure enough he was a local seed distributor of Monsanto products. The irony is
that the article is limited by space so I could only get so much in. My
rebuttal to his attack will allow me to publish additional points. Hopefully
the news paper will publish it, but if not, it is here on the web!

I recently had a chance to read your column on glyphosate by Bernard Rosen in
which he discusses “research” on the negative health effects of glyphosate.
This column is filled with inaccuracies and bad science. From the article: “As
a side note, this is how Roundup kills bugs. It blows their guts up!” Roundup
is a herbicide; it kills weeds, not bugs. The author may be confused with BT
protein that is used as an insecticide, that protein does kill bugs by
disrupting their guts. Interestingly, BT protein is commonly used as an
insecticide in organic food production.

The rest of the author’s conclusions seem to be based on the “research” of
Stephanie Seneff, Ph.D. Dr. Seneff has her doctorate in electrical engineering.
It appears her “research” is based on two laughable methodologies. First, she
assumes all correlation equals causation. Roundup has seen a large increase in
use at the same time that many diseases have increased, so Roundup must be the
cause. You could use the same faulty argument to claim that the increase in
autism the last 20 years must be caused by the huge increase in cell phone use.
Celiac disease can be explained by the large increase in hybrid cars, or even
the large increase in organic food sales. The increase in one variable at the
same time that another variable increases does not mean the one causes the
other.

The other methodology used seems to be that if glyphosate can disrupt certain
bacteria, it must disrupt the bacteria in our guts. This argument again comes
from an electrical engineer who didn’t actually do any biological research.

Don’t believe me, take the author’s advice and actually Google Stephanie
Seneff. You will find many articles debunking her wild claims. I think the best
is on the Huffington Post (not a big supporter of Monsanto) titled “Condemning
Monsanto with Bad Science is Just Dumb.”

Rick Lemke Mequon

Here’s my response:

To the Editor: Glyphosate:
Just the Facts

I’d like the
opportunity to respond to Mr. Rick Lemke’s criticism of my column which he
states is “filled with inaccuracies and bad science.” Here are the facts.

Fact:Glyphosate
is patented as an antibiotic.The
first “inaccuracy” Mr. Lemke cited is my statement that Roundup kills bugs by
blowing up their guts. Mr. Lemke is correct in that Roundup is sold as an
herbicide which is designedto
kill plants and weeds, but inherently kills the bugs that eat the contaminated
plants. So, how do we get from an herbicide that kills weeds to
killing bugs? Well, it turns out that glyphosate is patented by Monsanto as an
antibiotic. Antibiotics kill both soil bacteria and human or animal gut
bacteria. The collateral damage does not
end with the destruction of the soil bacteria or killing of these bugs, but
carries through the plant to the end user (humans) that ultimately consume the
plant crop.

Fact: Glyphosate was first patented as a mineral chelator in 1964. This means it immobilizes nutrients
so they are not physiologically available to the weed. Remember a “weed” is a
plant. The plant is starved of minerals it needs to survive and thus dies. It
is believed the same mechanism works in humans exposed to glyphosate. Thus the
claim of various nutrient deficiencies described by Dr. Seneff.

Fact: Several studies including those done by Monsanto
link glyphosate to cancer. Earlier
this year the International Agency for Research in Cancer (IARC) deemed
glyphosate “probably carcinogenic.” That means it likely causes cancer. There
are many studies supporting this conclusion. The web site Natural News recently
had this to say, “Both Monsanto and the EPA knew full well, at least as early
as 1981, that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide, causes
cancer in mammals. Earlier studies conducted during the late 1970s and early
1980s appear to have documented cancer-causing effects from glyphosate in rats,
mice and dogs, though this information was buried by Monsanto with the blessing
of the EPA.”

Fact: Dr. Seneff has numerous sources supporting her
work, and has published over 170 referenced articles. Mr. Lemke continues his personal attack on
Dr. Seneff calling her research “laughable” and makes other assumptions about
her work. Dr. Seneff has a BS in Biophysics in 1968, a M.S. and E.E. degrees in
Electrical Engineering in 1980, and a Ph.D degree in Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science in 1985, all from MIT. Mr. Lemke was quick to dismiss
Dr. Seneff’s degree in Biophysics given her doctorate degree in another area.
However, these various degrees form the basis for her research interests that
explore the intersection of biology and computer engineering in modeling.There are many different opinions with
scientists on all sides of this discussion. Each has persuasive arguments.

Fact: Mr. Lemke’s business sells genetically modified and
Roundup ready seeds.Mr. Lemke should point out this fact. He clearly has a financial stake in this
discussion.